The Fiesta del Pacifico (English: ''Festival of the Pacific'') was a civic

festival A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival c ...

held in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

during the 1950s. The event was staged throughout the city for several weeks in the mid to late summer. It was intended to attract tourists and to highlight San Diego's

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

and

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

heritage.

History

In 1955 the

San Diego City Council The San Diego City Council is the legislative branch of government for the city of San Diego, California. The city council was first established in San Diego in 1850. The council uses a strong mayor system with a separately elected mayor who acts ...

approved a plan for a month-long celebration to take place in the summer of 1956. A private organization run by Wayne Dailard, who had served as manager of the 1936–37

California Pacific International Exposition The California Pacific International Exposition was an exposition held in San Diego, California during May 29, 1935–November 11, 1935 and February 12, 1936–September 9, 1936. The exposition was held in Balboa Park, San Diego's large c ...

, put on a 33-day-long event in 1956, with some financial support from the city and

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

. The fiesta was intended to be an annual event, but revenue projections fell short, and tourism industry representatives complained that it was drawing traffic away from the more established attractions. The festival continued for three more years but was shorter and less ambitious each year: July 18 to August 12 in 1956, July 24 to August 10 in 1957, August 29 to September 9 in 1958, and September 4 to 17 in 1959. After 1959 the fiesta was abandoned.

Description

The festival included weeks of varied activities throughout the city, including a beauty pageant, several parades, a series of road races, a rodeo, street parties, and multiple displays of dancing, art, and other cultural activities. The main event was an epic theatrical production entitled ''The California Story,'' which had originally been written for the California Centennial celebration in 1950 and had been presented in the

Hollywood Bowl The Hollywood Bowl is an amphitheatre in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It was named one of the 10 best live music venues in America by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine in 2018. The Hollywood Bowl is known for its distin ...

. The extravaganza was performed in

Balboa Stadium Balboa Stadium is an American football and soccer stadium on the west coast of the United States, located in San Diego, California. Just east of San Diego High School, the original stadium was built in 1914 as part of the 1915 Panama–California ...

on a stage as long as a city block. It featured 35 scenes and a cast of 1,300 people, including a symphony orchestra and a 150-voice choir.

Lucille Norman Lucille Norman (born Lucille Pharaby Boileau, June 15, 1921 – April 1, 1998) was an American mezzo-soprano, radio personality, and stage and film actress active in the 1940s and 1950s. Early life Norman was born Lucille Pharaby Boileau in ...

was the star and lead singer in the 1957 production. It was directed by

Vladimir Rosing Vladimir Sergeyevich Rosing (russian: Владимир Серге́евич Розинг) (November 24, 1963), also known as Val Rosing, was a Russian-born operatic tenor and stage director who spent most of his professional career in the United ...

and conducted by

Meredith Willson Robert Reiniger Meredith Willson (May 18, 1902 – June 15, 1984) was an American flutist, composer, conductor, musical arranger, bandleader, playwright, and writer. He is perhaps best known for writing the book, music, and lyrics for the 195 ...

; both had filled the same role at the Hollywood Bowl.Official Program, ''Fiesta del Pacifico'', San Diego, 1956 The production dramatized the history of California from the arrival of

Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo ( pt, João Rodrigues Cabrilho; c. 1499 – January 3, 1543) was an Iberian maritime explorer best known for investigations of the West Coast of North America, undertaken on behalf of the Spanish Empire. He was the firs ...

in 1540 through the early 20th century. It was billed as "the biggest non-movie spectacle ever produced anywhere." In 1959, the last year of the fiesta, the ''California Story'' production was replaced by a 2-hour show called ''Stars over Pacific''.

Legacy

The celebration inspired the most popular and most-performed work by composer

Roger Nixon Roger Alfred Nixon (August 8, 1921 – October 13, 2009) was an American composer, musician, and professor of music. He wrote over 60 compositions for orchestra, band, choir and opera. Nixon received multiple awards and honors for his works, m ...

: a piece for symphonic band called ''Fiesta del Pacifico''. It was composed in 1958–59 and first performed in 1960. Nixon explained the name of his composition as follows: "Fiesta del Pacifico is held in San Diego and features a play on the history of the area, a parade, a rodeo, and street dances. It is one of several festivals held annually in various communities in California that celebrate the Old Spanish Days of the State, and I chose its name as representative of the spirit of those occasions."

References

{{reflist, 30em History of San Diego Festivals in San Diego Cultural festivals in the United States Latin American festivals